A parking meter is typically associated with a single parking space such that the parking space can be occupied for a predetermined amount of time in accordance with the amount of payment received at the meter. Expiration of the amount of time at the meter exposes the vehicle occupying the parking space to a fine. Advances in meter technology have generally not been propagated for managing parking meter enforcement and parking meter fee payment. Enforcement of parking meter fees is still largely performed by an individual manually traveling to each parking space and checking the time remaining on the associated parking meter. The individual is generally charged with noting violations of fee payment and issuing citations. This is a time-consuming and costly service. As with many tasks, manual involvement produces inefficiencies and unreliability.
For some systems, it is possible to provide payment to a parking meter via a mobile telephone, also referred to herein as a cell telephone. Such payment systems are typically referred to as pay-by-cell systems. The pay-by-cell technology has evolved in the parking industry as a method for cashless payment, as an alternative to cash-based payment and for when debit card, credit card, or other cashless forms of payment are not readily accessible. This has been especially true in the single space parking meter market. The pay-by-cell technology involves each parking meter unit being turned on (i.e., electrical power is applied) at the time a user initiates a paid parking period (i.e., begins a parking session). When the parking meter is turned on, it can communicate with the local cell telephone infrastructure to complete the payment transaction and start the timing process.
The pay-by-cell technique provides a more convenient cashless payment, and can also have the ability to add additional time to a parking space remotely. For example, if a user of a pay-by-cell parking space is stuck in a meeting and knows that it will be necessary to purchase more time before the meeting ends, then the user can do so by the following process, described in Table 1:
TABLE 1StepOperation1User registers with a parking service provider, providing creditcard and associated cell phone information for payment of futureparking sessions.2User decides to use pay-by-cell in a designated location.3At the designated location, the user initiates power to the parkingmeter and places a call to a central database of the parking serviceprovider, while the parking meter communicates with the centraldatabase.4The user provides information on parking pole/space location andamount of time to be purchased to the central database.5Time is granted and details regarding the purchase are stored in thecentral database (service provider hosted).6In response to the user payment, the central database communicatesthe amount of time purchased to the meter at the designated loca-tion.7Some time after initiating the parking session, the user can decideto pay additional amounts to extend the time period for the parkingsession by communicating with the central database and autho-rizing payment. However, because the parking meters are notalways awake (they power-down to save power), the updated timecannot be communicated from the central database to the meterfor display.8Because the meter does not display the time added in Step 7,enforcement requires officers to check with the central databasefor paid time, prior to issuing a citation, because a meter witha display that indicates the parking session has expired may ac-tually have time remaining, due to the Step 7 payment. This needfor checking is cumbersome and time consuming, making enforce-ment difficult.
Performing the above pay-by-cell process is time consuming to the user, requiring the user to register, place a call, and note the location and the amount of time to be purchased. In addition, the availability of credit card payment for both multi-space and single-space parking meters is likely to have a negative impact on pay-by-cell use due to the ease and speed of paying with a credit card. Some feel that pay-by-cell is akin to paying with a credit card, but using a cell phone to do so. Again, this is a more time consuming and confusing process than just paying with a credit card directly.
The above pay-by-cell process is also difficult from an enforcement perspective, as it requires enforcement personnel to contact the central database to determine if time has been added to the meter. Enforcement personnel would prefer to determine if a meter/space has time remaining by simply looking for an updated expiration indicator on the meter itself. The need for checking with the central database to determine remaining time, on a meter that otherwise indicates time has expired, translates into a slower enforcement pace and reduces the number of spaces that can be monitored by enforcement officers and reduces the citations issued for expired meters, which also translates into less revenue for a city or parking authority.
Some companies have implemented new technologies to address the primary drawbacks discussed above, with limited success. For example, enforcement personnel can be provided with Web-enabled access to pay-by-cell central databases. However, this still requires additional time and money to perform the checking. Meters can be configured to communicate over low-power mesh network wireless systems to enable the meters to always be awake and thereby receive updated data over the mesh network. This allows the meters to keep their displays updated and show the additional purchased time. However, mesh network parking meters are not without problems.
Mesh network parking meter systems require additional infrastructure, including wireless routers installed at various locations throughout the wireless network to act as the focal points of communication. These routers typically require electrical power on a 24/7 (twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week) schedule, and therefore mesh network parking meters are typically installed on street light, traffic signal, or other city utility street poles that can supply power to such units. In more complicated systems, additional router communication units are installed to provide levels of redundancy, and repeaters may also be installed to extend the geographic coverage of the mesh network.
The additional mesh network infrastructure requires installation and maintenance. Installation of the wireless routers is costly, can require permitting, and consumes electricity. This creates any number of issues, depending on which entity owns the poles, the permitting process and added bureaucracy to determine how to pay for the consumed electricity, allocating responsibility for who will maintain the installed router system, and what will be the impact if a router fails.
Mesh network technology can be relatively expensive in terms of material costs, maintenance costs, installation, and permitting costs. While it is possible that other services can be processed through the mesh network, the economics of the service is such that few customers are willing to make such an investment of money and resources to install and maintain mesh network parking systems for such a limited economic return.
Due to the cumbersome steps in current pay-by-cell processes, pay-by-cell payments typically represent less than 5% of all parking revenues for a given city. In areas with a younger demographic, and especially in university settings, pay-by-cell is typically more popular and higher percentages of its use are typical. However, a more streamlined pay-by-cell process, from the perspective of both the users and the enforcement personnel, could result in greater acceptance and more pay-by-cell payments.